Poston and Hawes representing GSW in summer leagues

Jun 03, 2010

Georgia Southwestern catcher Paschel Poston and pitcher
Corey Hawes are representing the Hurricanes in prestigious
collegiate wood bat leagues this summer. Poston will be
facing some of the top collegiate players from across the country
as a member of the Covington (Va.) Lumberjacks in the Valley
Baseball League. Hawes is playing for the Vermont Mountaineers of
the New England Collegiate Baseball League.

Poston started 41 games behind the plate this spring for GSW as a
sophomore. He finished with a .287 batting average, two home runs
and 20 runs batted in. The Jupiter, Fla. native drew 31 walks
(ranked second on the team) and posted a .428 on-base percentage.

Valley Baseball League rosters are peppered with NCAA Division I
players. Joining Poston on the Lumberjacks roster are players from
Florida State, Seton Hall, Virginia Tech and South Florida.

As stated on the Valley League website, the league was formed in
1923 and became an NCAA-sanctioned league in 1961. Although the
NCAA no longer has direct involvement with summer leagues, the
league still operates under NCAA rules. The league
adopted wooden bats in 1993.

The VBL is funded in part by a grant from Major League Baseball
and is a member of the National Alliance of College Summer
Baseball, a national affiliation of summer leagues. The
league has produced well over 1,000 professional baseball players,
including a record 79 former players drafted in the 2008 Major
League Baseball First-Year Player Draft.

The Lumberjacks open their season on Friday (June 4) and play a
44-game schedule with the regular season ending August 2.

Hawes posted a team-low 2.32 ERA for GSW this
spring as a junior. He finished with a 2-2 record and two saves in
24 appearances out of the bullpen. The Eatontown, N.J.
native struck out 31 batters in 42.2 innings and held
opponents to a team-low .252 batting average.

Hawes is joined by Division I players from Rutgers, Penn
State, Rice, Texas Christian and Indiana on the Mountaineers
roster.

As stated on the New England Collegiate Baseball League website,
the NECBL was founded in 1993, under the direction of George
Foster, former Cincinnati Reds and New York Mets All-Star and Major
League home run leader and league founder Emmy Award-winning
television producer/director Joseph Consentino. Play started in
1994 and today the NECBL has become a strong twelve team league
that plays in all six New England states and recruits players
attending U.S colleges from New England, the other forty-four
States and foreign countries.

The Mountaineers open their season on Friday (June 4) and play an
eight-week, 42-game schedule with the regular season ending July
31.